Lay shaft construction



Sept. 11, 1951 S. K. HOFFMAN ET AL LAY SHAFT CONSTRUCTION Original Filed Feb. 18, 1944 INVEN TOR.

SAMUEL K. HOFFMAN AND HAROLD CAM/NEZ, DECEASED HAZEL CAMINEZ, EXECUTE/X BY way/QM ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 11, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT or fice 5,567,483; LAY SHAFT coNs'moo'rioN Samuel lioffniap; Whittier, Calif an i; Herold Qamineg jeceqsed -late ofWilliamSpor-t, Pa by ciirfibiifidii of Delaware e f shdwii-iii sec ofi e auctions of Figurs 7- a'fid 7a} respect y of the patent application; A- new s't'of reference m'erals' has beer-1 used this appiiitiofi is a matter of convenience but pasts of th d'riin'ai application ar'e includetl hreiritothee they describe and cl'ain'i" the my shefteanstrii tion.

With referenceto Fig iire'ly a} higH Siid' ing g'ear g'enera;]1y designa't'eii' l-', a'ln lowspe driving geeti generallydesignated- 2 a e with interr'ial clutch t'eeth 3 and] 4 s15 ti'iieli These clutch teeth'ar'e adapted- 1:01 alter te engagement' with a. power driven" 'cliiteli sleeve} (riot shown) and t'r'ztris' mit power to awltti's'hal-ft un t g'exieral-lydesi'ghitd 5.-- Ap1iir"a}1it3 oi ley siistit 2 units may be em oyed anq spaced cireiinfijf 'f eiitialli aroimd the high speed and low speegl driving gears to aid in transmitting the p r to driven gears connected to the propeller sha ts (not shown). z;

lay shaft unit 5 is ifohrna edi be; n; 6 in a wall I, which islii tegr ati with thee inj sectiofit and '21 hearing ir a pl agte IO' speed gear l2 arid a highlspeekigear f3} Q fort" M whioh meshes with and irives a gear [5; sei cored to o e of the probeiIe-rsahcl" e g'ejsir (6' which mesheswith arid; drives' a ring gep'r Ta Wheel body I 8 for drivii'igf the st ppe propeil'ep The pitch diameter of pinion I"4 won the lay shaft and gears 15 and [tare pro tiofi'edto driige geirs' I5 my? alt'thes'ar'ne pp iii opposite directions for the" contra" rotation of thea s'sbcialted propeller shaits i H Y shaft.

tion' s angi asi rrounding sleeveiseeiti nizp', 4' g3- p n n 1-4 is integral with e'aih shaft sectiofi I19;

n ie i shaft-Seamanm; a tli in the rear end of bolt 25 and prevents relative.

rotation of the nuts and the bolt.

In assembling the gearing, the lay shafts are all assembled in their respective bearings 6 and 9 and the nuts 21 are turned sufilcientlyto move the conical engaging portions of each shaft I9 into loose relation with the conical sockets in the gears I6 and the sleeve section 20. Gear I is prevented from rotating by locking its associated propeller against rotation. r f Gear 2, which meshes with'gears-I-2-- on the sleeve sections of all the lay shaft units, is

then rotated in the direction of normal operation while slippage is permitted between conical sections 2| on shafts I9 and the conical sockets 22 ofthe sleeve section 20. Rotation of gear 2 is continued until the tooth loads of all of the pinions I4 on gear I5 are equalized. Gear I5 and its associated propeller are then'released for rotation and the propeller associated with gear I! is then lockedag'ainst rotation thus preventing its rotation. Gear 2 is again rotated as before and slippage of conical portions 23 in the conical sockets of gears I6 is then permitted until the tooth loads of all 'of the gears IE on gear I? are equalized. No slippage occurs between conical portions 2| and sockets 22 while slippage is occurring between gears I6 and conical portions 23 because gear I5'and its associated propeller are free'to rotate and because of the larger frictional resistance of conical'portions 2| compared to the relatively smaller frictional resistance of conical portions 23. The nuts 21 are then tightened on bolts which jams the gears IS on the conical portions'23 of shafts I9 and the conical portions 2I in the sockets 22 of the sleeve sections 20 which are integral with gears I2, respectively, So that these elements are fixedly secured together for conjoint rotation with equal tooth loading. During the setting of the nut 21, a tool is inserted inthe slot inthe rear end of bolt 25 to prevent its rotation.

Next, the nuts 28 of the lay shaft units are set to hold the gears I3 forslippage on the conical portions 24 of the sleeve sections 20. The gear I which meshes with all of the gears I3 is then rotated in the direction of normal operation while said slippage is permitted which results in uniform distribution of tooth loads on the ears I3. The propellers are locked against rotation while this adjustment is made. The nuts 28 are then tightened to jam and lock the gears I3 on the conical portions 24 of sleeves 20.

This construction renders it unnecessary to accurately index the teeth of each of the gears of each lay'shaft unit relative to one another and providesfor ready' interchangeability of the lay shafts and gears thereon. By holding the bolts 25 against'rotation while nuts 21 and 28 are being tightened, no torsional stresses are applied to the bolts which eliminates any spring or twist which might tend to disturb the adjustment of the gear setting.

It will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that the preferred embodiment of the invention herein described greatly facilitates the construction of a complex geared mechanism. having a multiplicity of lay shafts transmitting power from and to a plurality of meshing gears.

Having described a preferred embodiment of the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In variable speed transmission gearing, a lay-shaft unit comprising an inner shaft section. a sleeve section, said sections being provided respectively with a conical member and a mating socket, gears on the sections, respectively, the inner shaft section being provided at one of its ends with a second conical member, a gear having a conical socket fitting on said second conical member, and means for clamping the shaft sections and thelast named gear together longitudinally into driving relation.

2. In variable speed transmission gearing, a lay-shaft unit comprising an inner shaft section, a sleeve section, said sections being provided respectively with a conical member and a mating socket, gears on the sections, respectively, the inner shaft section being provided at one of its ends with a second conical member, a gear having a conical socket fitting on said second conical mem-- ber, and a bolt extending through the inner shaft section and provided with a head and nut for clamping the shaft-sections and the last named gear together longitudinally into driving relation.

3. In variable speed transmission gearing, a lay-shaft unit comprising an inner shaft section, a sleeve section, said sections being provided respectively with a conical member and a mating socket, gears on the sections, respectively, the inner shaft section being provided at one of its ends with a second conical member, a gear having a conical socket fitting on said second conical member, a conical member on one end of the sleeve-section, a gear having a conical socket fitting on the conical end of the sleeve section, means for clamping the shaft sections and the gear having a socket fitting on the conical member 'on the end of the inner shaft-section together longitudinally into driving relation, and means for clamping the gear having a socket fitting on the conical member on the end of the sleeve'section into driving relation.

4. In variable speed transmission gearing, a lay-shaft unit comprising an inner shaft section, a sleeve section, said sections being provided respectively with a conical member and a mating socket, gears on the sections, respectively, the inner shaft section being provided at one of its ends with a second conical member, a gear having a conical socket fitting on said second conical member, a conical portion on one end of the sleeve section, a gear having a socket fitting on the last named "conical portion, a bolt extending through both shaft-sections provided with a head and a nut for clamping together longitudinally the shaftsections and-the gear on the inner shaft section, and a second nut for clamping the second mentioned gear on the sleeve.

5. In variable speed transmission gearing, a lay-shaft unit comprising an inner shaft section, a sleeve section, said sections being provided respectively with an integral conical portion and a mating socket, gears on the sections, respectively,the inner shaft section being provided at one of its ends with a second integral conical portion, a gear having a conical socket fitting on said second conical member; and means for clamping the shaft sections and the last named gear together longitudinally into driving relation.

6. In variable speed transmission gearing, a lay shaft unit comprising an inner shaft section, a sleevesection, said sections being provided respectively with an integral conical portion and a.

mating socket, gears integral with the sections, respectively, the inner shaft section being provided at one of its ends with an integral second conical portion, a gear having a conical socket fitting on said second conical portion, and means for clamping the shaft-sections and the last named gear together longitudinally into driving relation.

7. A geared lay-shaft comprising a tubular inner-section and a sleeve section, a conical portion and mating socket between the sections, gears integral with the sections, respectively, conical portions on said inner and sleeve sections at the ends remote from the conical portion and mating socket, gears having sockets mating with the conical end portions, respectively, a bolt extending through the shaft sections and a nut for clamping the shaft sections and the gear on the conical end of the inner-shaft section together, and a second nut threaded to the nut on the bolt for clamping the other gear on the conical end portion of the sleeve section.

8. A geared shaft comprising a plurality of coaxially disposed shaft components, the adjacent shaft components defining a plurality of nonrotatable frictionally engaged joints, the amount of friction between each pair of associated components differing substantially from the friction between every other pair of frictionally engaged components, and means for axially loading said shaft components whereby they may first be lightly loaded while successive rotational adjustments are made in their relative positions and then may be heavily loaded to prevent any relative rotation therebetween.

9. A lay comprising a, plurality of coaxially disposed shaft components, the adjacent components defining a plurality of non-rotatable frictionally engaged joints of different frictional resistance, and means for axially loading said plurality of components whereby the frictionally engaged joints may first be lightly loaded while successive rotational adjustments are made in the relative positions of said shaft components, the relative positions of said components associated with the joint of greatest frictional resistance being first adjusted and successive adjustments between the remaining shaft components being made thereafter in the order of progressively decreasing frictional resistance of the associated joints, said components being heavily loaded thereafter by said loading means to prevent further relative rotation.

SAMUEL K. HOFFMAN. HAZEL CANIINEZ, Executrz'a: of the Estate of Harold Owminez, De-

ceased.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,602,983 Ljungstrom Oct. 12, 1926 2,091,637 Hoffman Aug. 31, 1937 2,095,794 Corbin Oct. 12, 1937 2,125,456 McWhirter Aug. 2, 1938 2,481,290 Clarke Sept. 6, 1949 2,496,857 Cronstedt li'eb. 7, g 

